How to remove your personal information from Google searches

Reporter: Andrea Guerrero
Published: Updated:
FILE – In this Monday, Nov. 18, 2019 file photo, the logo of Google is displayed on a carpet at the entrance hall of Google France in Paris. Google will automatically purge information about users who visit abortion clinics or other places that could trigger legal problems now that the U.S. Supreme Court has opened the door for states to ban the termination of pregnancies. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

Google receives tens of thousands of requests every year to remove personal information, like addresses, found through Google searches. However, only about 13% of requests get approved.

Now, Google is expanding its removal policy.

WINK News consumer reporter Andryanna Sheppard explains what can be removed and how you can do it.

Have you found something about yourself online that you wish you could delete? There were nearly 2,000 data breaches in 2021 according to the FBI. And 83% of those breaches involved sensitive information like social security numbers, which were then posted online.

Now, Google is making it easier to remove sensitive information like that through an online form.

Just go to this page on Google to fill out the appropriate removal request form.

The things that can be removed include social security numbers, credit card numbers, photos of signatures, bank account information, medical records, address, contact information or any information that can be used to steal your identity.

But anything that’s a part of a public record like a government file or news article – it’ll stay up.

Google can only remove the webpage containing the information from their search results, but it cannot remove your information from the website. For that, you’ll have to contact the website owner.

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